Reminder: BBM for iOS and Android is still on a wait list, but it's moving fast!

We've had quite a few Android and iOS users email us in the last few days, unsure how to proceed with BBM after entering their email address. While millions of users are already actively using BBM on other platforms, those that aren't tech savvy and may be new to BBM don't realize that they unfortunately still need to wait to get in on the fun.

The line-up is really moving! Wait time is down to just a few hours. Open #BBM and check to see if you're in!

A few emails we received were from confused users asking us what to do after entering their email address, so here's the deal.

BBM is still on a wait list for now. The list is moving super fast and the wait time is only a few hours at this point (which is down from days). So once you download and install BBM on your iPhone or Android device, enter your email address and you'll be added to the waitlist. In a few hours you'll get an email from BlackBerry that reads something like this:

Congratulations!

adamzeismeister@crackberry.com has reached the front of the line and has been granted immediate access to begin using BBM™ on Android™ or iPhone®.

Here's what to do:

1. Open BBM (If for some reason you’ve deleted BBM, visit BBM.com from your Android or iPhone browser to download it again)

2. If you are prompted to “Enter your email address to check if you can start using BBM”, enter the email address exactly as it appears above

- or -

if you are on the ‘We’re holding your spot in line’ page, click “I got the email”

3. Get started with BBM!

At this point, after you received your welcome email, you can start up BBM again and enter your email address to get going. Now you'll be able to create a BBID (if you don't already have one) and actually use BBM.

We know many of you think this is all common sense, but for those of you who may be new and not know the full deal, hopefully this helps!

I got all my employees to download BBM. I wanted to test on my 5c so I set up and got registered with a new email. I got the confirmation, and then used that email to bypass the wait on a few other devices, allowing them to set up new BBID's with no wait.

You could probably do the same with Adams email address posted above ;)

Yeah I did this a couple of days ago and now I seem to have a glitch...2 of my contacts are seeing me as the user whos email I used...They freaked out but once we deleted each other it went back to normal. It happen again about 2-3 times after this. I'm think I'm just going to use a different email and start a new pin to avoid any confusion. Can't really blame berry for my lack of patience.

Sorry, not to borrow a slogan used by our friends at Apple, but bbm 'just works'. I too hope people will realize that at the very least, and appreciate the simplicity without as much security issues as other options.

I think BB knows better than we do. We have no idea the actual amount of requests they are getting as they add more and more countries.
If they open the flood gates and everything goes to hell then you can imagine what a lot of people/media would say about that.

I don't think BBRY is being cautious only to ensure everything works well for new users; rather, I think they want to ensure that the rapid addition of new users doesn't impact BBM for the millions of existing users. This mentality is why so many government organizations and large enterprises relied on BBRY.

While the wait line might not be the best "first" impression for iOS and Android users, how soon they forget the issues Google Play had when the Nexus 4 became available for order--that was a far worse experience for far less volume of traffic.

Yes I had to tell a friend last night to update his Apple version. As soon as he did all his issues were gone. He saw me use BBM corporately when we were vacationing in Mexico. He was blown away with the video conferencing as he was sidelined on his iphone. When I asked him to download BBM the first thing he said was why? Then he said will I be able to use it like you did in Mexico, and I said yes. He started the download.

I believe it's possible. There are tens of millions of former BB users, on other platforms now, that know BBM and likely would not hesitate to try it out on their iOS and Androids.
This combined with brand new BBMers and (for me) it's easy to believe.

im not gonna dispute your assumption, but what i dont get is this, they put out the Africa press release today, and that still only said about the 10m we knew about, if it was more than double then why not mention it?

I helped my wife sign up and after 24 hours, we reloaded the app and the account was ready to use. No sign of the welcome email in junk mail either. It's possible that the new email addresses are being loaded into their system but for whatever reason not all notification emails are being sent out or perhaps you can log in before they have a chance to generate the email (and then they don't bother) not sure except she's up and running without having to receive the activation email. We originally tried the "force close" method which didn't work so we waited 24 hours to try again and it just let her log in.

I have signed up with two droids and one iPhone. After waiting 24 to 36 hours on all 3 I received NO emails. They were not in SPAM folder either. After waiting, the same email addresses allowed me proceed to the next level and get PINS for all 3 which are all working beautifully! BBM definitely has a problem with the waiting list emails. Now I only need BBM to allow iPod installation so I can get my kids on BBM with the rest of the WORLD! #IChooseBlackBerry10

It took a good 24 hours for my friends roughly, but the notifications did come. I think the numbers are going to be very high and people will not delete. They will all have at least a few Bbm contacts to start and it will meet the needs of communication with them at the very least. I will add, I know a lot of android and iPhone users and they are all excited about it.

Unfortunately you are just making unsubstantiated assumptions. Do you have an insider information about exactly what's really transpiring st BlackBerry? If you don't, then your guess is as good as anybody.

what are you talking about? BlackBerry said several days before launch that there were 6 million people signed up for email notification on BBM, they also saw what happened at the last launch with large numbers, thats why they implemented a wait list system for crying out loud.

what im saying is that they knew (as evidenced by their Blog post before BBM went live) they were operating a que system, which i also have no issue with, but what i am saying is that had they informed their customers downloading by placing that info in the app decsription, then people wouldnt leave poor reviews saying how they downloaded only to be on the wiat list.

Im not making one single assumption, go read the reviews yourself and you`ll clearly see most of the negative reviews are more about the wait list (and lack of knowing about it at install) than anything to do with the function of the app.

Well said! I learned the hard way about debating/arguing with wincyUT. For some reason he hates to see any sort of complaints against BB. I do too when it's bullsh_t complaints! but he gets bothered even when it is clearly a legitimate beef. He will then use some twisted logic to support his position, as you have witnessed, and then, when you rationally lay out the facts that support your position, as you have done, POOFFF! He's gone! On to the next victim!

Haha. Please don't take our argument/discussion so serious. It's nothing personal and I'm not looking for victims. We all have different views or opinions and there is nothing wrong with anyone strongly defending what they believe.
Life is too short to stress. Cheers and peace.

I got my approval after about a 3 day wait. I've had it for about a week now. I liked BBM better back in the day when I had a BB phone. I actually like using Hangouts better now but that is probably because it's more familiar to me right now. But is is nice to finally have a cross platform messaging app that our Android, iPhone, and BB friends can finally all use to keep in touch.

Maybe your "friend" is an idiot who doesn't know what (s)he is doing. Or maybe this "friend" doesn't exist and you are just trying to make BlackBerry look bad? Or maybe the other 20+ million ppl who have downloaded bbm and started using it are ALL liars..... as you said. hmmmm. Which is most likely?

Had a contact with a 5S in New Zealand load it late last night and I got the request this morning. They got their confirmation within 3 hours but didn't check email till 3am their time, 8am my time. No glitches on their end or mine.

Let's cautiously hope that BlackBerry fulfills that promise. If BBM really wants to compete with the big boys, BlackBerry will have to do a great job of updating BBM with features (including voice and video calling and screen share) in a timely fashion and seriously market it to the public as to why people should choose BBM instead of WhatsApp for example.

Reading the rants on twitter are hilarious. It seems to be only the iPhone users that are the thoroughly insulted that BBM made it to iPhone. No peep or complaint from Android people. And I though BlackBerry users were fanatics.

Funny you say that "Iphone makes you better than the rest of us". I have a friend that their company switched them over to and iphone 5 last month, all of a sudden Blackberry blah, BBM dont know how to donload so I wont get it. I told him with your nose pointing that high in the air becareful not to trip.
Disgusting how people don't want to support a company in their own country.

A coworker has the S2 and he is out if luck, but another has an S3 and he is up and running great. The rest of us at work have company z10 and we live these devices. A few are getting the z30 when Rogers releases.

I've given my whatsapp contacts a one week notice before I ditch that stupid app. Although i'll admit, I do like the push to talk feature....I only got that app because I was too cheap to get unlimited texting to talk my non-bb friends.

Two friends on iPhones joined the wait list at the same time yesterday afternoon. One got the email this morning. The other didn't get it yet. Seems strange that one got it and the other didn't. Can I use my email address for the person that didn't get it, or will that mess up my BBM?

Two of my children were unfamiliar with BBM. After downloading and waiting 24 hours, they got logged in and rolling. They still didn't see much advantage to it until I set up a family group page. They love it! My most anti-bb son said, "This is really cool! Sharing pics, calendars, events and chat is really cool!!" (This is the son that got disgusted with the wait and deleted the app and only added it back on because he loves his Dad.) He has now forgotten all about the "stupid, dumb wait". Now they are getting their spouses to sign-up. I am loving it.

Cross-platform BBM rocks! I can't wait for full BBM capability to come to their iPhones.

How come message aren't being delivered to iOS until the app is open or opened recently, it just shows a check mark. Can it not run in the background like Facebook? Is there a setting I'm missing? Android works fine.

I asked 4 people to get BBM so I wouldn't have to use sms text on a regular basis. I told them they may have to wait 2-3 days for thee invite due to traffic. I said just apply, put it out of your mind, and when you get the email, contact me. They haven't had Bbm ever,so what is the big deal. Now they are all up and running. The good news is I just got a Bbm message from one of them as they are having a big discussion at their place of work. He can't believe the positive BlackBerry discussion going on as if late. BlackBerry may have just got themselves on the road to recovery.

Don't know if anyone picked this up already.. trick to move up the waiting list is:
Ask for email address of a friend who already received the email.
On the welcome screen use your friend's email address
Woala you jumped to front of the waiting line..
Write this as an article if you like mods.. this truly works

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